Sparks Fly
by obijuankenobi
Summary: This is a oneshot VERY LOOSELY based off of a Taylor Swift song I heard on the radio recently. I'm not the biggest fan of her work, but the song fit so well I had to write this. Enjoy!
**(A/N: As I said in the summary, I'm not a big Taylor Swift fan, but this song came on the radio today and it struck me as something that really happened to fit with ML, and thus the urge to write a one-shot hit me. Disclaimer: this is not in the Dark Ladybug universe, so this is separate!)**

 **3** **rd** **Person P.O.V.**

Adrien is having a terrible day.

It was your pretty typical stuff- overslept, burnt toast, came to school wearing bunny slippers by accident (something Plagg will tease him about until the end of time, surely), realized he forgot his homework at home.

His one bright spot- Marinette, the girl who sits behind him in school.

He'll admit it- he may be pretty smitten with Ladybug, but Marinette's a _very_ close second. And since he can't date Ladybug, which would mean revealing their identities to each other (something she's made clear she doesn't want to do), he's been working up the courage to ask her out for a while.

He'll also admit that he shouldn't have to _work up the courage_ , because it's pretty obvious she likes him. The stuttering, the awkwardness- either she likes him, and has it _bad_ , or she's secretly a robot and he's secretly a magnet.

Mme. Bustier comes over in the middle of her lecture. "I didn't realize hearts had to do so much with Napoléon, Mr. Agreste," she says, looking at his paper in her hand. The harsh words were offset by her typical kind, soft-spoken demeanor.

He tries not to blush, glad Marinette can't see his face. "Um… they don't," he says, wishing he could come up with something better to say.

"Remember that in the future, please," she says, and turns back to the board.

 _Was I really drawing hearts?_ Adrien asks himself. According to the now ruined paper, he was. Amazing what being distracted could do.

The entire class jumps when thunder crashes outside. Mme. Bustier looks up. "Hmm. It appears we'll have some rain today. I hope you all brought your umbrellas." It seems to Adrien from the grumbling that no one did.

He tunes out again as Mme. Bustier continues talking. Great. Not only did he come to school wearing bunny slippers, but his dad and Nathalie have a seriously important meeting after school, so he gets to walk home in the rain. Wearing bunny slippers.

Nino nudges him. "Weird. Usually it's so sunny here."

Adrien nods, distracted. Could today get any worse?

Behind him, Marinette says to Alya, "That's not good. I walk home! I'll get soaked."

Alya says, "Don't worry about it. You can change clothes once you get home. I'd offer you an umbrella if I had one."

Suddenly, the prospects for today look much sunnier.

He knows it in his bones that it's a sign if there ever was one. The only way this could more obviously be a sign is if there was a literal sign outside the window- 'Ask Marinette out today! This is a perfect opportunity!'

Nino asks, "Why do you have such a funny look on your face?"

Adrien tries his best to wipe whatever look he has off of his face. "I just… had an idea."

Nino regards him suspiciously. "You have to tell me, dude. Whatever idea you just came up with, it was super rad. I could tell."

"Later," Adrien says. He motions slightly with his head behind him, trying to covertly tell Nino that it has to do with Marinette.

Luckily, he catches on, and nods. "Okay, bro."

Later, at lunch, Nino and Adrien behind some trees. The flora provides some respite from the unrelenting rain.

"So, you were thinking during class?" Nino prompts.

Adrien buries a hand in his hair sheepishly. "Yeah… I really, really like Marinette."

"Really?" Nino perks up. Not many would peg him for it, considering how nervous he gets around girls, but he's secretly a romantic. Although he'll vehemently deny it if you ask him.

"Yeah, and I was getting up the courage to ask her out when it started raining. Well, it turns out that Marinette is walking home, and so am I…" Adrien trails off, leaving Nino to attempt to fill in the blanks.

But Nino is somewhat distracted. "You're walking home? Doesn't your dad's assistant drive you home?"

"Along with a bodyguard, but that's not the point," Adrien says. "The point is that we have the same route home until she gets to her house, then I'm on my own. Don't you think that's the perfect time to ask her out?"

Nino thinks for a second. "I think you're right. She's, like, not going to be expecting that. Do you have any flowers or something?"

Adrien replies patiently, "No, because I wasn't planning it until I overheard her conversation with Alya."

"Right, right," Nino says thoughtfully. The two of them stand there until the bell rings, signaling the end of lunch hour. Class seems very unappealing after the pseudo-freedom of lunch hour.

Adrien looks up at the clock again. _That can't be right_ , he thinks. It's been way more than ten minutes since he last looked up. It had to have been at least an hour.

But the clock on the wall is considerably more correct than Adrien's internal clock, which is, of course, connected to his anxiety (however mild) about asking Marinette out.

Thankfully, he realizes, there are only ten minutes of class left. And since they're watching a video, he can zone out. It's really just recap, in any case.

He puts his head down in his arms on his desk and starts thinking. What about Ladybug? If he does end up with Marinette… things could get complicated. He'd be torn in two different directions.

 _There's no guarantee that Ladybug even returns your feelings_ , he chides himself. _Better to ask someone you like, who likes you back, instead of risking humiliating yourself and ruining a great partnership with Ladybug._

He then sinks into a half-sleep until the bell rings, after which Nino gently shakes his shoulder. "Wakey-wakey, Sleeping Beauty."

It sounds so much like something Plagg would say before demanding some cheese that the now very tired Adrien says, "Five more minutes, Plagg."

Nino raises an eyebrow and says, "Dude, last time I checked my name was Nino. You feeling okay?"

"Just lovesick," Adrien mumbles before dragging himself off the chair and beginning to pack his bags.

Nino glances backward. "No kidding," he says.

It's definitely pouring out here. Adrien regrets not bringing his umbrella, but then he remembers that the forecasts this morning (which he checks daily, so he doesn't wear anything overly warm or cool- sweating and shivering aren't very model-like, according to his dad) said absolutely nothing about rain.

Adrien's mind casts back to a few months ago, when school started. Didn't he lend his umbrella to Marinette? He's not all that surprised to discover that he doesn't mind the fact that he never got it back. Adrien probably has enough money to buy another umbrella sometime, anyway.

Adrien pretends to be tying his shoes while he waits for Marinette to walk out the building. Nino, who passes by, remarks, "How long does it take you to tie your shoes, man?"

" _Nino_!" Adrien hisses. "You know what I'm doing!"

"Right… you have fun," Nino says. He unsuccessfully tries to hide a smile as he walks away. Shoe tying? Please.

When Marinette walks out of the doors, it's like the sun is shining again. A dreamy smile crosses Adrien's face and he straightens. "My shoes decided to untie themselves today," he quips to her.

Marinette giggles. "Some- some… uh… some rain out here, huh? It's really… wet…" Her cheeks turn red from her stammering.

Adrien pretends not to notice. "Yeah, it is. Much more of this and people are going to be boating in the streets." Marinette giggles again, but doesn't respond this time. Probably to save herself from feeling embarrassed.

Suddenly, Marinette points at something above his head. "Wow!" she exclaims. "It's a rainbow!"

He looks up and sure enough, a rainbow has made its way through the sky. Adrien has to admit that it's probably the brightest rainbow he's ever seen. "That's beautiful," he says. Then he decides to take a chance. "Just like you."

Marinette inhales sharply and stiffens. "Uh… thank you…?" She almost seems unsure if it's a joke or not.

He takes her hand and spins her toward him. "Marinette, you know I like you too, right? I think that you're smart, nice, talented, and so much more."

Her robin's-egg blue eyes are wide with surprise, and her lips move soundlessly.

Adrien continues, "I would be the luckiest guy in the world if you'd be my girlfriend." A sudden wave of nausea hit him. What if she says no? Rejection is something he's rather afraid of.

Marinette stands on her tip-toes and presses her lips to his. _They're really soft_ , Adrien thinks absently. They stand there for a few seconds, soaking in the fact that they finally have what they want.

Then Marinette pulls back, and Adrien has to fight the urge to pout like a kid. She smiles. "Does that answer your question?" she asks teasingly. For once, Adrien notes, she's not stuttering.

"I… guess so…" Adrien silently chews himself out for being so mind-numb. He shakes himself off. "I should get you out of this rain," he says.

Marinette looks annoyed with herself. "I wish I had returned your umbrella the day after you gave it to me. Then we wouldn't be soaked." She gestures to the two of us.

Adrien takes her hands again. "It's okay. I promise. You can keep it." He actively tries not to dwell on the bizarreness of the fact that I was thinking about that exact umbrella thing a few minutes before.

"If you say so..." Marinette doesn't look so sure, but Adrien smiles gently at her.

"You know what else I say?"

"What?"

"That I love you."

 **(A/N: I love y'all, but that's the last time I ever write in third person. The entire time I kept slipping into first person just because I'm so used to it. I'm sorry if you really like third person, but I can't do it. I hope you enjoyed this anyway. Thanks for reading!)**


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